


Third Time’s The Charm

by Lanceeselhombre



Series: His Process Au [5]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anxious Keith (Voltron), Crying, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Keith has a phobia of bathrooms, Omorashi, Orphan Keith (Voltron), Self-Esteem Issues, Wetting, implied/referenced trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-20
Updated: 2018-08-22
Packaged: 2019-06-30 03:35:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15743418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lanceeselhombre/pseuds/Lanceeselhombre
Summary: Keith can finally use a bathroom without having a panic attack and can even do it on his own at the castle. He stills needs someone to be there in less familiar circumstances though.His team doesn’t realize that.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I highly recommend reading ‘His Process’ before this otherwise it won’t make a lick of sense.

Keith sighed and stretched as he stood from his chair, happy that the lengthy meeting with the newest additions to the coalition was finally over. He’d never been a fan of them, they were boring. His job was to sit there and be the red paladin while Shiro, the Alteans, and the leaders of their new partners discussed stuff. They never talked about anything very interesting either, so listening to their conversation didn’t help much.

 

Getting a reprieve from the boredom wasn’t the only thing that made him happy the meeting was over, though. He always ended up needed to pee afterwards, considering the discussions usually lasted upwards of two hours, and once they were over he could go relieve himself. This particular meeting had been a bit shorter than usual, only two and a half hours long, so he didn’t need to go  _ that _ bad, but they had to help their new coalition partners load several cargo ships with materials right after the meeting, so he wanted to go to make sure he didn’t get desperate in the middle of it. 

 

The only problem was that they were at an alien headquarters, not the castle. He didn’t know where the bathrooms were or what they looked like or who would be in there- it was a lot he didn’t want to deal with by himself. So, when everyone was dismissed from the table he grabbed Lance by the arm, intending to ask him to go with him. When he first started using the bathroom he always needed someone to be there with him so he didn’t have a panic attack; Lance had been his person of choice most of the time since he had a lot of experience with calming his anxiety. He’d been doing well lately- he hadn’t needed someone to bring him in a couple of days- but he figured his friend would still be willing, especially considering they were somewhere unfamiliar. 

 

The hand on his arm caught Lance’s attention immediately, the teen turning around to look at his friend with a questioning gaze. He didn’t speak so as to not draw attention to them, which Keith appreciated; he never liked being the center of attention. 

 

The raven-haired teen glanced around to make sure there was no one close enough to eavesdrop before he said anything. “Can you bring me to the bathroom?” He whispered, leaning in closer so only Lance could hear. 

 

The blue paladin looked around for a moment, most likely searching for the restrooms, before he turned back to him. “Bathroom’s over there.” He said, motioning with his head to the left side of the corridor, where a door was, a traditional humanoid stick figure insignia hanging from the front that clearly indicated the room’s purpose. “Do you think you can go by yourself though? We have a lot of work to do and Shiro wants all hands on deck.” He asked, and even though Keith knew the question wasn’t meant to persuade him to go on his own, it felt like the other was trying to brush him off. Like he didn’t want to have to bring him. 

 

The thought made him frown, but he did his best to ignore it since he knew it was only his mind making that up. He looked over to the door again with a calculating gaze, deciding that it didn’t seem all that intimidating. And they  _ were  _ going to be busy, like Lance said, so if he wasn’t really scared he should probably try go alone, if only to make their work shorter. 

 

After a moment of debate he shrugged in response. “I’ll try.” He decided, letting go of his friend’s arm to allow him to catch up with the rest of the team. The worst that could happen would be him not going, and considering he wasn’t desperate or anything he would be able to hold it until their work was done, even if he was uncomfortable. 

 

Lance gave him a soft smile. “I’ll go help the others, but if it’s too much just come get me, okay?” He prompted, waiting for Keith’s response before he walked away. He knew there was always the possibility that his friend wouldn’t be able to handle it, so he wanted to remind him he was always available in the event that that was the case. 

 

Keith responded with a nod and a fake smile. He appreciated the sentiment, but if he couldn’t go by himself then he would just hold it. He didn’t want to have to find Lance and admit that he was too scared to pee on his own when they were surrounded by strangers, and since they were supposed to be working Lance would have to ask Shiro if they could leave so he would have to know too and- yeah no, it wouldn’t be worth it at that point. “Okay.” He agreed regardless, watching Lance as he walked off down the halls before he moved. 

 

The teen took in a deep breath to steady himself as he walked over to the bathroom door and opened it, wanting to get this over with. He scoped out the inside from the doorway before he deemed it safe enough to enter and stepped in. It didn’t look all that different from an Altean bathroom, so that bit of familiarity helped. It didn’t seem like anyone else was in there at the moment either. 

 

He walked over to the stalls and put his hand on the handicap one (the extra space made him feel less cornered) but the sound of a toilet flushing had him bolting out the door before he had the chance to use it. _Nope nope nope nope nope_ _NOPE_. He thought frantically as he speed-walked away from the bathroom, trying to calm the sudden panic that hit him so he didn’t look so distraught when the others saw him. He was definitely _not_ going to be able to go in there again without someone else. 

 

Thankfully, he calmed down decently fast once he was a safe distance away from the room and could act like his normal self when he found the other paladins. Lance caught his gaze from across the hanger and gave him a questioning thumbs up, to which he responded with the same hand gesture and a forced smile. After that he went to work helping everyone move the cargo, not wanting to waste time. 

 

He was fine for now, he could go when they were done. 

 

*****

 

Several hours later, when they were finally done loading all the ships, Keith was starting to get desperate. Despite his discomfort though, part of him wanted to wait until they were back at the castle so he wouldn’t have to go back inside the bathroom here. (The scare he had earlier made him feel wary, worried something similar would happen if he tried again.)

 

He didn’t want to risk it though. He looked around for one of his teammates, spotting Shiro first. The man was talking with Allura, but she walked away after a moment, giving him a chance to get his attention. “Shiro!” He called as he jogged over to him, ignoring how the movement made him almost leak. He cared more about getting his leader’s attention than making it to the bathroom completely dry, because he would rather get there than not at all.

 

Shiro perked at the sound of his name and turned, smiling when he saw Keith coming towards him. “Hey kiddo. What’s up?” He said invitingly as the other stopped in front of him and glanced around. 

 

Once Keith was sure no one would overhear them talking he asked, “Can you take me to the bathroom?” 

 

Shiro frowned a little at his question and looked over his shoulder towards Allura, which did not bode well him for. “I actually have to help Allura with one last thing before we head back to the castle. Do you think you can wait? It’ll be a half hour back.” He explained, offering an apologetic smile. 

 

Keith frowned. “No.” He responded immediately, even though he probably could if he tried. He was extremely uncomfortable though and didn’t want to wait if he could help it. Still, Shiro looked reluctant, not wanting to put off what must be something important (considering Shiro would put off nearly anything for him as long as it wasn’t dire.) 

 

The teen shifted on his feet, a desperate urge rolling over him so strongly he had to cross his arms to keep from holding himself. “Shiro…” He mumbled, hoping to convey just how  _ bad  _ he had to go with his tone alone. 

 

Said man sighed, looking over his shoulder one last time. “Allura’ll get mad if I don’t follow her. You can go ask Lance though, he’ll bring you. Or Hunk.” He said, knowing Keith didn’t want to hear that, but it was the best he could give him. No one liked being around an angry Allura, and she wouldn’t accept a bathroom break as an excuse (she still didn’t quite get that human bodily functions couldn’t be ignored and, in Keith’s case, that human trauma wasn’t like Altean trauma.) 

 

Keith felt an odd urge to cry at being denied for a second time, frustrated that he would have to wait even longer. He could go find one of the other boys on the team so they could take him, but if they’d already taken off then all he would have succeeded in doing is making his wait longer. And if his teammates were already gone then he would really cry, and he wouldn’t calm down until he could finally go. He didn’t want to be embarrassed like that. 

 

He guessed he was going to hold it then. 

 

*****

 

As soon as Keith touched down in Red’s hangar he made for the debrief room as fast as he could (which wasn’t very fast at all, he was too desperate to run.) He doubted he would bump into someone in the hallways, so he figured it would be faster to head straight for debrief. 

 

Because he had to walk so slow, he was the last one to make it there. As he walked through the door Allura looked at him and smiled. “Alright, let’s get started.” She quipped as she sat down at the table in the center of the room, the others moving to follow her lead. 

 

“Before we start can someone  _ please  _ bring me to the bathroom?!” Keith all but yelled, his voice dripping with desperation and frustration. He knew that no one really knew he had to go, so he shouldn’t be mad that no one thought to bring him, but he was. He was too desperate to think of anything other than how  _ badly  _ he needed to pee, and every little thing that made him have to wait longer was ticking him off. 

 

Allura jumped a little at his outburst, turning to face him with a dark frown. Before anyone else could react she was berating him, her tone condescending and hard. “You should have gone before you got here. And if you really can’t wait, then go by yourself.” She dismissed him with a flick of her wrist and turned back to the table. 

 

Keith felt his chest inflate with anger, his eyes filling with frustrated tears.  _ But I can’t!  _ He shouted internally, wondering how the fuck someone hadn’t figured that out by now. He’d been told to go by himself three times today and had a scare inside the bathroom  _ by himself _ , and everyone kept acting like he’d magically gotten over his phobia the second he started using the bathroom and that nothing would scare him. They were being so fucking insensitive that his tears started to spill over.

 

And now that she’d said that to him, his teammates obviously weren’t going to volunteer to bring him in the face of her anger, so he plopped down on the floor where he stood, his arms crossed over his chest defiantly as he glared pointedly at the floor. He didn’t fucking care anymore if he pissed his pants, no one else apparently did. 

 

He heard a chair sliding across the floor, then footsteps in his direction. “I’ve got ‘im.” Lance announced as he climbed the stairs to where his teammate was seated on the floor, determined to help him since no one else seemed inclined to. He knew Keith didn’t act like this just because, something had to be wrong for him to act out like this. 

 

“No, we’re starting.” Allura demanded, not taking no for an answer. 

 

Lance, bless him, didn’t back down either. “He’ll have an accident if someone doesn’t bring him.” He retorted, his tone heavily reminding her that accidents didn’t end well, especially when she was involved. 

 

Unfortunately, right as he said that Keith couldn’t hold it any longer. The teen let out a reluctant moan of relief as the crotch of his pants quickly soaked, a puddle starting to form underneath him. The accompanying quiet hiss caught Lance’s attention, causing the teen to look over at him and see what was happening. “Nevermind.” He sighed tiredly. 

 

Allura turned to investigate the sound as well, her face scrunching up in disgust. “If he wants to make a scene and throw a fit over something so juvenile, let him.” She said coldly, sounding so indifferent and fed up with him that he couldn’t stop himself from actually starting to cry. 

 

_ That hurt. _

 

Keith covered his mouth with a hand and ducked his head, eyes squeezed shut, refusing to give her the satisfaction of seeing him cry despite the fact that it was obvious with the sounds he was making. He was so livid, so hurt, and so humiliated that he couldn’t even think on how to react, that all he could do was sit there and wallow in his emotions and agree with her that he was acting like a fucking  _ baby _ . Eighteen year olds didn’t need people to bring them to the bathroom, to kneel in front of them and hold their hands to keep the monsters at bay. They don’t throw fits when they’re denied and they don’t cry when they have accidents. Normal adults don’t even  _ have accidents.  _

 

When no one immediately tried to comfort him he started mentally beating himself up for all of his flaws, because if it wasn’t for them, then today wouldn’t have happened.

 

**_##### (POV change) #####_ **

 

In a split second, all eyes were on Allura, hardened like diamonds. “You should not have said that.” Pidge said seriously. Even she could tell how damaging that one sentence was to her friend’s self-esteem, and she was the least involved of the paladins with helping him with his issues. 

 

“You should leave.” Shiro said next, attempting to convey just how serious the situation was without being unduly rude. He had the wisdom to keep from adding more negative emotions to the situation, knowing that if anyone started yelling Keith would immediately spiral into a  _ powerful  _ panic attack. Assuming he wasn’t panicking already. 

 

Allura looked deeply offended that the paladins were all picking Keith’s side over hers, standing with an angry huff and storming out of the room. Keith was sitting right by the door, so her rushing by him so fervently caused him to cower into himself and shake fearfully.

 

Shiro sighed, mentally reminding himself to explain to her why she couldn’t say things like that. He looked up to Coran, who had been silently standing in the corner of the room the entire time, being blunt to not waste any time. “I think you should go with her.” 

 

Coran seemed to agree and left without a word. 

 

It was quiet for a moment after that, the only sound being that of Keith’s poorly suppressed cries. “Do you think we should go too?” Hunk asked lowly, motioning to himself and Pidge. They hadn’t been involved in any of the days events, but he knew that Keith usually calmed easier when there was less people.

 

A second passed before Shiro nodded. “That would probably be for the best.” He decided, and the yellow and green paladins left without another word. 

 

When it was finally just the three of them, the black and blue paladins shared a glance and a silent sigh. Shiro stood from his chair and walked over to where the others were, sitting down beside Keith as Lance sat in front of him. 

 

Keith sat up a little more and pulled his hand away from his face, as if sensing that they were the only two there. Sadly, the fact didn’t soothe his tears, but at least the change in posture meant he wasn’t having a panic attack. 

 

Lance was the first one to attempt to say anything. He started slow, keeping his voice low and gentle so his friend would hear his words, not just his tone. He aimed to soothe, knowing that Keith wasn’t easily reasoned with while emotional and upset. “It’s okay K-“

 

“No, it’s not okay!” The red paladin shouted, and Lance could understand where he was coming from. He was sitting in a puddle of his own piss and crying after being verbally put down by a teammate for an accident. He’d probably been holding it all day based on the volume of liquid on the floor, and the thought made Lance’s heart twinge. He thought Keith went when he said he needed to go earlier? “I’m such a baby!” The teen wailed, shoulders slumping like he truly believed what he was saying. 

 

Shiro’s face scrunched up in concern and guilt, which made Lance wonder why he was feeling guilty. “Oh, Keith, no you’re not. An accident doesn’t make you a baby.” He soothed, placing a gentle hand on his friend’s back, only to have it roughly shoved away. He respected the fact that Keith didn’t want to be touched and rested his hands in his lap with a sigh. “I’m sorry I didn’t bring you to the bathroom when you asked earlier. Or at the very least help you find one of the others.” He apologized sincerely. “This could have been avoided.” 

 

Lance’s eyes widened with realization as a wave of guilt hit him in the chest as well. Keith had asked to be brought to the bathroom three times, was rejected each time, didn’t go despite needing to (most likely because he was scared), then had an accident, which was topped off by Allura being an ignorant ass. It was no wonder why he’d been yelling when he asked the third time, he’d had a really rough day, and the worst part was that none of them noticed when they could have made it better. “I’m sorry too, Keith.” He apologized as well. Him rejecting the other the first time was probably what set the whole ordeal in motion, so he was mostly to blame. “I thought you would tell me if you couldn’t go on your own.

 

“Why didn’t you say anything?” He wondered softly. 

 

Keith blubbered his response, making his explanation so unintelligible that he couldn’t decipher what he said for a solid three seconds. “Because someone was in there and they scared me and I didn’t want to bother you!” The teen cried. 

 

“Keith, you should know by now that you don’t bother anyone when you ask for help.” Shiro stated softly, sounding surprised that he still hadn’t learned that. “We’ll always be willing to help you, no matter what it is.” 

 

“But you guys said no!” The red paladin wailed, confused. 

 

Lance felt even guiltier at that, knowing that it was partially true, but he also knew that he  _ did _ tell Keith to come get him if he really needed him. His friend was upset though, and not thinking rationally, so all he was focusing on was the fact that his teammates hadn’t immediately helped him when he first asked. “When I asked if you could go by yourself I was curious to see if you were willing. You’ve been doing so well, so I wanted to see if you’d be comfortable in a less familiar place. I wasn’t trying to brush you off because I didn’t want to take you or because you I thought you were annoying.” He explained truthfully. 

 

“So then why’d you say it was because we were busy?” Keith questioned, starting calm down slightly while they talked, though there were still tears streaming down his face. 

 

Lance smiled soothingly, a bit of remorse lacing with his features. “I said that to see if you really needed me to come with you. You like comfort, so if I didn’t give you a reason why I couldn’t do it just for the fun of it, you would have said yes either way.” He explained, now realizing that he’d been wrong to test his friend like that. “I shouldn’t have done that though. Im sorry.” 

 

Keith sniffled but nodded, seeming to understand better now. He looked over to Shiro, silently waiting for him to explain his side as well. 

 

The man sighed. “I don’t really have an excuse.” He admitted, the guilty expression on his face proving that his words were truthful. “I meant what I said, but I know I should have brought you. That was a mistake on my part, and I’m sorry.” He said, holding an arm out in an offer for a side hug. Keith stared at his arm for a moment before he leaned into it, causing the black paladin to smile. “No one’s perfect Keith, not even us. Mistakes are made, and that’s okay. You just have to learn from them.”

 

“O-okay.” The red paladin breathed, finally calming down and one last deep sigh. He wiped his eyes with the palms of his hands to dry them and sat back, looking emotionally drained. It was then that the fact that he was still sitting in a puddle with wet clothes started to bother him, a disgusted frown pulling at his lips. 

 

Shiro patted his back and stood. “Why don’t you go get cleaned up?” He suggested, offering Keith his hands to pull himself up. The teen took them and got to his feet, then was pulled into a hug by his leader. He relaxed into the embrace easily, a testimony to how far he’d come from their first weeks on the castle, when he would shy away from any form of intimate contact like it was the plague. 

 

When they parted Keith turned to Lance, who gave him a hug as well. “Wanna shower together?” The brunette asked as he pulled away, offering his friend his hand to hold. He took it without a second thought and nodded with a happy smile, small but definitely there. 

 

Lance smiled in return and lead him towards the door, glancing back at Shiro before they left. The man pressed his hands together and placed them under his cheek, telling the other in their personal sign language to  _ make sure Keith takes a nap _ . The teen winked in response before he walked out, taking Keith with him. 

 

After they left Shiro allowed himself to sigh tiredly and drag a hand down his face. He still had to deal with Allura. 

 

He wished he were the one that got to take care of Keith. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel cheated by my own fanfiction lol. I would like to see Keith and Lance take a (platonic) shower together.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me just say my brain is exhausted after writing this dialogue-heavy chapter.

Shiro found Allura on the main bridge of the ship, working on plans for the next movement. He supposed working must settle her down, or at the very least take her mind off things, as Coran was helping her from his station instead of trying to intervene. 

 

The black paladin let her finish what she’d been working on before he stepped forward and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. “We need to talk.” He said, serious and firm but not hard. Despite everything that had happened, he kept reminding himself there was only a misunderstanding; Allura didn’t understand quite where Keith was coming from and she didn’t understand humans. It wasn’t that she’d said what she did to purposefully hurt him. 

 

Allura sighed and shut down her station, folding her hands neatly in front of her hips as she turned to face him. “I agree.” She replied, a bit of anger still lingering in her tone, but there was also frustrated confusion there as well. “I apologize for any offense I caused, but I do not understand why what I said was considered ‘wrong.’” She said, and Shiro breathed a little easier knowing she was willing to listen and learn. 

 

He took a minute to decide where to start the conversation. “Well, there were a lot of things that made it ‘wrong,’ but I think the biggest one is that you don’t understand how human trauma works.” He started, choosing his words carefully. After almost a year on the castle, he learned that Alteans listened to words more than tone. “When we experience traumatic events, like me being taken prisoner by the Galra for example, we will  _ never  _ fully recover from it. We can get better, but that trauma will always be a part of us. We will always have trouble with it, even if it is only from time to time.” 

 

He gave Allura a moment to process that. “Okay. Why do you and Keith….react differently to your trauma then? He reacts much more strongly and, quite frankly, in ways that don’t seem to make sense. You only have flashbacks and episodes when something triggers memories from your capture.” She questioned. 

 

Shiro hummed, thinking. “There’s a lot of reasons why we react differently. No two humans are alike; our upbringing, our genetics, everything about us makes our reactions to similar situations differ from each other. The trauma we went through was different. Our trauma happened at different ages. I was an adult, and Keith was a young child. Trauma is usually more damaging for kids because they’re not mature yet, they haven’t learned to self-soothe or to express themselves effectively, and that makes it much more difficult to heal from something big. A child can’t tell themself that they’ll be okay because they don’t know if they will be, and they sometimes can’t say with words what is bothering them, so other people can’t really help.” 

 

Allura nodded in understanding. “Yes, I get that. You’ve roughly explained that before. But Keith is an adult now, and you are referring to the reaction of a child. By your words, he is mature now, and should be able to act as you would.” She said, confused. 

 

“Ah, not exactly. Yes, Keith is eighteen and a legal adult, but because he was traumatized so young and it wasn’t addressed properly, he wasn’t able to move past it for a long time. His fears were antagonized for years by adults who didn’t care to look past the fact that he was troublesome to care for. After his parents died he didn’t have anyone to look up to and to learn from. Kids need role models and a safe environment to mature. Keith didn’t have that.” 

 

“He never had the chance to mature correctly.” Allura supplied, starting to understand a little better. 

 

Shiro smiled slightly, happy they were getting somewhere. “Correct. So, in a lot of ways, Keith is still a child. But that doesn’t mean you can say he’s juvenile, because saying that to someone in human culture is extremely rude and hurtful.” He explained, seeing a flash of regret spark in the Altean’s eyes. “But that is why his reactions are strong and don’t seem to make sense. He doesn’t know how he’s supposed to react most of the time, and when he doesn’t have a default he acts out. He’s trying to tell us that something is wrong, he just hasn’t learned to put his emotions into words yet.” 

 

Allura opened her mouth, closed it, then opened it again. “Is that why he was shouting about needing the restroom?” She asked, her brow crinkling as she tried to connect the dots. 

 

“For the most part, yeah. We didn’t take him when he asked politely, so he yelled to get our attention.” He said. “But humans also have strong instincts so we don’t hurt ourselves, and one of them is to make sure we regularly excrete waste so our bodies don’t become toxic. When we need to pee, our body doesn’t let us forget, and the discomfort can make us frustrated or upset. And when we don’t listen, our body forces us to let go. So even if Keith sat down at the table with us, he would have had an accident anyway.”

 

“Oh.” At that, the rest of Allura’s anger flushed away. “I thought he urinated on himself because he was being impatient.” She admitted, a blush creeping up on her face. 

 

“Nope. That wasn’t his fault. Trust me, he would rather wait in pain than wet himself if he could.” Shiro said with a small chuckle, the atmosphere lightening slightly. 

 

Allura nodded. “I understand that now.” She said, rubbing her thumb along her knuckles as she tried to put into words her other confusions. “I don’t understand why he couldn’t go by himself, regardless. He’s been doing so for the past few quintants, correct?” She asked, wondering if she had been wrong on that. 

 

“No, you’re right. He has started going alone.” Shiro reassured. “But today me and Lance urged him to go alone in an unfamiliar place. His fear, among other things, is that he’ll be hurt inside a bathroom, and he can’t guarantee that he’s safe in a place he’s never been, especially surrounded by strangers.” He explained. “And he almost managed, but someone scared him inside the bathroom, and after that he was too afraid to go back without someone to protect him. And like I said earlier, Keith isn’t good at self-soothing, so even though he  _ knows _ it’s only us on the ship, his mind can still convince him that something is going to scare him again when he goes into the bathroom, and he’ll believe it. So he was still scared when we got back to the castle.” 

 

Allura’s embarrassed blush only grew darker the longer he explained until she had to cover her cheeks to hide the bright red color. “Now I feel horrible.” She said, sounding guilty. “I yelled at a frightened child.” 

 

Despite that fact that Shiro knew she understood Keith wasn’t  _ really _ a child, and that she only said that because she was recognizing that that was where Keith had been mentally, he felt like he had to add, “Yes, in a way. Remember though, Keith may react in a similar way to how a child would, but he’s still an adult. He’s just learning how to be one a little later than the rest of us did.” 

 

She nodded. “Yes, I see that now.” She said sincerely. 

 

She sighed. “Will he forgive me?” 

 

At that, Shiro grinned. “Well, that’s the nice part. Keith doesn’t hold grudges. All you have to do is apologize and he’ll forgive you.” He said. 

 

Allura didn’t seem so convinced. “Are you sure?” 

 

“Well, Keith was mad at me and Lance for today. We apologized, and now he’s taking a nap with Lance. I’d say he’s forgiven us.” Shiro reassured. He saw the slight confusion that took over the princess’s features and added, “Keith naps after he cries to calm down. If he doesn’t his mood doesn’t improve.” 

 

“Because he can’t calm his own emotions?” 

 

“Not yet.” 

 

*****

 

When Keith drifted into consciousness, it was to Lance’s voice. It took him a moment to hear what he was saying, and even then the words were muffled and far away. “...’s a little early,....’ll be fine.” 

 

After another minute Keith realized his friend was talking to someone. Thinking it was Shiro, he squinted his eyes open and looked around for the man, only to find to his surprise that it was Allura. He immediately jumped up into a seated position and away from where he’d been laying with his head in Lance’s lap, startled and upset. Great, the princess got to see him cry earlier because of an accident, and now she saw him napping in the middle of the day like a little kid. He didn’t think he could give her much more ammo to shoot him with.

 

He was surprised again when Allura spoke, remorseful, not condescending. “Keith, I apologize for what I said to you earlier. I had several misconceptions about your species that Shiro cleared up, and I now realize that my attitude was uncalled for. I ask for your forgiveness.” She said, eyes downcast and guilty. 

 

He didn’t react until Lance gave him a gentle nudge in his side, startling him out of his shocked silence. He couldn’t really be blamed for not knowing how to respond though, he didn’t usually get apologies after things like today happened. “Um” He stuttered, playing with the blanket in his lap while he searched for words. “Thanks. I kind of deserved it though, I was acting out.” He said, staring down at the blanket so he didn’t have to look her in the face. 

 

He heard Lance breathe in to tell him he hadn’t deserved to be yelled at and that he shouldn’t validate someone else being rude to him (literally every time when he put blame on himself he said something along those lines.) Before he could, though, Allura beat him to it. “No, you didn’t. You were expressing fear, not misbehaving. I was wrong to act as though you were.” She replied sincerely. 

 

Keith only nodded, not sure what to say. He froze when Allura sat down on the bed next to him and hugged him, having not expected the touch. After a moment he relaxed into the embrace and hesitantly hugged her back, his grip strengthening when she didn’t pull away. Hugs were a more familiar form of apology for him, thanks to Shiro and Lance, so being held by the princess felt much more sincere than words ever could. 

 

Allura didn’t end the hug, so he didn’t either. Eventually, he began to drift back to sleep on her shoulder, feeling much more confident and comfortable around her than he ever had. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whispers: Lance 100% told Allura to hug him when he wasn’t looking.


End file.
